The University of Massachusetts baseball team finished its first Mid-American Conference (MAC) series against Toledo, wrapping up a week of many notable conference games.
Central Michigan narrowly rolls past Ball State in 8-7-win (March 6-8)
In a back-and-forth battle, Central Michigan threw the final punch in a narrow victory over Ball State Friday.
The Chippewas (6-7, 1-2 MAC) faltered early in the game, conceding three runs in the third inning to a Jacob Gillis sac fly and a Ryan Muizelaar RBI single for Ball State.
From then on, it only got worse for Central Michigan, even when the bats woke up and could score in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings, the Cardinals would match their score in the bottom half of those innings. By the eighth inning, the score was 7-4 in favor of Ball State.
Finally, the breakthrough began when the Chippewas put all the chips on the table, scoring four runs on a Bryson Webb RBI double and a Cole Prout RBI single.
Pitchers Liam Stumpf and Max Hammond then closed the game with a scoreless bottom of the eighth and ninth innings to secure the Central Michigan victory.
The Cardinals ended up winning the three-game series 2-1, but Friday was a noteworthy win for the Chippewas.
The next game for Central Michigan is against Mercyhurst on Tuesday, March 10 at 2 p.m. Ball State will visit No. 25 Kentucky on the same day with first pitch at 6:30 p.m.
Western Michigan breaks through against Akron in 4-1-win (March 6-8)
A pitchers’ duel ended in Western Michigan’s favor as the Broncos (6-8, 2-1 MAC) took down Akron on Saturday.
Western Michigan’s starting pitcher Sam Carlisle recorded six innings, allowing only one run. The Zips (7-9, 1-2 MAC) starter Elijah Griff pitched seven innings, allowing only one unearned run.
It wasn’t until the ninth inning that the Broncos took the lead, scoring three runs in the top half of the inning. With the bases loaded, Nolan Zajac produced an RBI single, followed by the rare hit-by-pitch RBI off of Tanner Mally, and another RBI single by Drew Howard to go ahead.
With a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the ninth, Western Michigan robbed the Akron home fans of a victory with the save by Turner Doran.
The Zips avoided the sweep on Sunday with a narrow 2-1 victory, but the Broncos won the series 2-1 in their first MAC matchup.
Western Michigan will next face Michigan in a non-conference game on Tuesday, March 10, then continue its road trip to Athens, Ohio, for a three-game MAC series.
Miami sweeps Eastern Michigan with 9-4-win (March 8)
Miami (OH) flew past Eastern Michigan to secure the 3-0 series on Sunday.
The game started strong for the RedHawks (11-4, 3-0 MAC) with four first inning runs, with Ignacio Gonzalez taking a pitch deep for a three-run homerun, and one run off a wild pitch thrown by Eagles (4-12, 0-3 MAC) pitcher Tommy Rose.
There were a couple of defensive mishaps by Eastern Michigan on the day, with two errors committed by Landon Mueller and Fischer Hendershot, which, when facing the reigning MAC champions, didn’t help their chances.
The RedHawks continued to pile on the runs over the remainder of the game. Diego Cruz hit a solo homerun in the sixth inning and Carson Raether with an RBI double in the seventh inning.
Pitching for Miami was consistent as well, with only three pitchers entering the game: Clayton Burke, Austin Berggren and Jake Tedesco.
The RedHawks didn’t give the Eagles a chance to survive in this game with a combined 13 strikeouts between them,
The RedHawks next face off against Evansville on Wednesday, March 11 at 3 p.m. for a non-conference matchup before hosting Bowling Green for a three-game MAC series.
Other Notable Results:
Bowling Green stunned Kent State in a 7-2 win on Friday.
Northern Illinois takes the series against Ohio with a decisive 8-2 win on Sunday.
Standings Update:
At the end of week one in MAC play, only Miami (OH) and Toledo are the only teams undefeated in conference play. Eastern Michigan and Massachusetts are the only two winless teams.
Alex Polyak can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @AlexDPolyak.
